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What is it?
Creatine is formed in the human body from the amino acids methionine,
glycine, and arginine. Creatine is stored in the human body as creatine
phosphate (CP) or phosphocreatine. The average persons body contains
approximately 120 grams of creatine stored as creatine and creatine phos-
phate.
Creatine can also be supplied by foods. Certain foods such as beef, her-
ring, and salmon, are fairly high in creatine, but a person would have to eat
pounds of these foods daily to equal what can be found in one teaspoon of
powdered creatine from a supplement.
What is it supposed to do?
During short maximal bouts of exercise such as weight training or sprint-
ing, stored adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the dominant energy source.
However, stored ATP is depleted rapidly. To give energy, ATP loses a phos-
phate and becomes adenosine diphosphate (ADP). At this point, the ADP
must be converted back to ATP to derive energy from this energy produc-
ing system.
When ATP is depleted, it can be recharged by creatine, in the form of cre-
atine phosphate. That is, the CP donates a phosphate to the ADP making it
ATP again. An increased pool of CP means faster and greater recharging of
ATP and, therefore, more work can be performed for a short duration, such
as sprinting, weight lifting and other explosive anaerobic endeavors.
Other efects of creatine may be increases in protein synthesis and increased
cell hydration, though researchers are still elucidating the mechanisms.
What does the research say?
The above is, of course, an immensely oversimplifed review of an excep-
tionally complex system, but the basic explanation is correct. To date, re-
search has shown ingesting creatine can increase the total body pool of CP
which leads to greater generation of force with anaerobic forms of exercise,
Creatine Monohydrate
Chapter 5/ Creatine Monohydrate
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such as weight training, sprinting, etc.
Early research with creatine showed it can increase lean body mass and
improve performance in sports that require high intensity intermittent ex-
ercise such as sprinting, weight lifting, football, etc.
Creatine has had spotty results in research that examined its efects on en-
durance oriented sports such as swimming, rowing and long distance run-
ning, with some studies showing no positive efects on performance with
endurance athletes.
Whether or not the failure of creatine to improve performance with endur-
ance athletes was due to the nature of the sport or the design of the stud-
ies is still being debated. But one thing is for sure; the research is stronger
in high intensity sports of short duration.
Recent fndings with creatine monohydrate have confrmed previous re-
search showing its a safe and efective supplement. More recent research
has focused on exactly how it works, and has looked deeper into its poten-
tial medical uses.
Several studies have shown it can reduce cholesterol by up to 15%, and
may be useful for treating wasting syndromes such as HIV. Creatine is also
being looked at as a supplement that may help with diseases afecting the
neuromuscular system, such as muscular dystrophy (MS) and others.
A plethora of recent studies suggest creatine may have therapeutic ap-
plications in aging populations, muscle atrophy, fatigue, gyrate atrophy,
Parkinsons disease, Huntingtons disease, and other mitochondrial cytopa-
thies, neuropathic disorders, dystrophies, myopathies and brain patholo-
gies.
The importance of creatine is underscored by creatine defciency disorders:
inborn errors of metabolism that prevent creatine from being manufac-
tured. People born without the enzyme(s) responsible for making creatine
sufer from a variety of neurological and developmental symptoms which
are mitigated with creatine supplementation.
As for safety, some have suggested that creatine might increase the need
for extra fuid intake to avoid potential dehydration and muscle pulls. Still,
creatine has not been shown to increase either dehydration or muscle pulls
Chapter 5/ Creatine Monohydrate
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in the research. In some people, creatine may increase a by-product of cre-
atine metabolism called creatinine, which is a crude indicator but not a
cause of kidney problems.
Some doctors have mistakenly thought that high creatinine levels (in
athletes using creatine) are a sign of kidney problems, but that is not the
case.
Creatinine is not toxic to the kidneys and most doctors are not aware that
creatine may raise creatinine levels with no toxicity to the kidneys. People
with pre-existing kidney problems might want to avoid creatine due to the
efects it can have on this test, though creatine supplementation has never
been shown to be toxic to the kidneys and the vast number, of studies to
date have found creatine to be exceedingly safe.
Its interesting to note that there has been a concerted efort by many
groups and ignorant medical professionals to portray creatine as being
somehow poorly researched (fatly untrue) and unsafe for long term use.
They systematically ignore the dozens of studies that exist showing its
both safe and efective. Even more bizarre, they ignore the recent studies
that are fnding creatine may help literally thousands of people with the
aforementioned diseases. This is unscientifc, unethical, and just plain im-
moral, in my view.
One question that often comes up regarding creatine is whether or not the
loading phase is required. Originally, the advice for getting optimal results
was to load up on creatine followed by a maintenance dose thereafter. This
advice was based on the fact that the human body already contains ap-
proximately 120 grams of creatine (as creatine and creatine phosphate)
stored in tissues and to increase total creatine stores, one had to load for
several days in order to increase those stores above those levels.
The idea also seemed to work well, in practice, with people noticing con-
siderable increases in strength and weight during the loading phase. All
was not perfect however as many people found the loading phase to be a
problem, with gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea and other problems. At the
very least, loading was inconvenient and potentially expensive.
The need for a loading phase was a long held belief, but is it really needed
to derive the benefts of creatine? The answer appears to be no, as both
Chapter 5/ Creatine Monohydrate
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research and real world experience have found the loading phase may not
be needed after all. A 1996 study compared a loading phase vs. no loading
phase among 31 male subjects.
The subjects loaded for 6 days using 20 g/day and a maintenance dose 2
g/day for a further 30 days. As expected, tissue creatine levels went up ap-
proximately 20 percent and the participants got stronger and gained lean
mass. Nothing new there! And, not surprisingly, without a maintenance
dose creatine levels went back to normal after 30 days.
Then the group was given 3g of creatine without a loading dose. The study
found a similar - but more gradual - increase in muscle creatine concen-
trations over a period of 28 days. The researchers concluded:
...a rapid way to creatine load human skeletal muscle is to ingest 20 g of cre-
atine for 6 days. This elevated tissue concentration can then be maintained by
ingestion of 2 g/day thereafter. The ingestion of 3 g creatine/day is, in the long
term, likely to be as efective at raising tissue levels as this higher dose.
A more recent study done in 1999 found that 5 g of creatine per day with-
out a loading phase in 16 athletes signifcantly increased measures of
strength, power, and increased body mass without a change in body fat
levels (whereas the placebo group showed no signifcant changes).
The researcher of this 1999 study concluded:
...these data also indicate that lower doses of creatine monohydrate may be
ingested (5 g/d), without a short-term, large-dose loading phase (20 g/d), for
an extended period to achieve signifcant performance enhancement.
So, if you have sufered through the loading phase in the past thinking it
was the only way to maximize the efects of your creatine supplement, it
appears you can rest assured you dont have to go through all that hassle.
A 3 - 5 gram per day dose over an extended period of time will probably do
the same thing.
What does the real world have to say?
What can I say? Creatine monohydrate is one of the most widely used sup-
plements in bodybuilding, and I know of very few people who feel that
they havent gotten good results from using it.
Chapter 5/ Creatine Monohydrate
. . . a rapi d way
to creati ne l oad
human skel et al
muscle is to ingest
20 g of creati ne
for 6 days. This
el ev at ed t i ssue
concentration can
then be maintained
by ingestion of 2
g/day thereafter.
The ingestion of 3
g creatine/day is,
i n the long term,
likely to be as ef-
fective at raising
tissue levels as this
higher dose.
. . . t hese dat a
also indicate that
lower doses of cre-
atine monohydrate
may be i ngested
(5 g/d), without a
short-term, large-
dose loading phase
(20 g/d) for an
extended period to
achieve significant
performance en-
hancement.